Northwestern Graduation
I had an honor to be officially hooded as Dr. Z (!) this past weekend. The Northwestern University School of Music‘s graduation ceremony took place at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on Northwestern campus. Here are a few snapshots from the event:
I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to everyone who contributed toward this important moment in my life, and who continue to inspire my work as a composer, performer, and researcher with their constant search for the universal truths in music.
To my principal adviser, Dr. Jay Alan Yim, who offered invaluable guidance and ideas during my time at Northwestern University Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music in Evanston, IL, I acknowledge his ability to help me find my personal voice as a musician. To my other advisors, Dr. Robert O. Gjerdingen, Dr. Gary Kendall (advisor emeritus), and Prof. Lee Hyla for their patience, interest, and knowledge that have helped me shape my own research in sound as a metaphor for harmonic structures. I truly appreciate their time and feedback on my work at Northwestern.
To my other teachers, advisors, and mentors that played a significant part in my development as a musician: at Northwestern University, the composer Augusta Read Thomas, who encouraged me to always be myself and confidently search for my personal mode of musical expression; Rev. Thomas G. Harris, the organist at The Church of the Atonement in Chicago, IL, who broadened my interest in organ improvisation as a spiritual act of meditation; and to Dr. H. Joseph Butler at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX, for his valuable lessons in organ performance and sacred music.
To numerous friends and colleagues who so kindly supported my ideas on music and spirituality and their willingness to share their thoughts at various stages of this project: to Dr. Pantelis Vassilakis of DePaul University in Chicago, IL, for sharing his approach to spectral roughness and timbre; to Tristan Murail at Columbia University in New York City, for the many engaging conversations about his attitude towards composition.
To my wife, Haley, and my family without whose constant inspiration and support I would not be able to embark on this exciting project. Her wonderful insight into my work as a musician, her infinitely generous love and faith, and her motivation during the time when I was not certain how to continue was true nourishment in both this dissertation and my final composition.
Love you too hon.